First Race of the Season: Shamrock 4 Miler
This past Saturday was my first race of the season and the first in the Run For Your Life Six Pack Race Series: The Shamrock 4 Miler. It also served as the first day of my Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassador duties.
The weather forecast for the day was less than ideal; 90% chance of rain throughout the entire race. Although, that morning the conditions did look promising, as the temperature was tolerable and the rain was light.
When I put on my running entire, I was happy to represent the Charlotte Marathon for the first time at a race with my ambassador shirt. Then, I polished off the look with my green sequined suspenders. I mean it was a St. Patrick’s Day race. I had to look festive.
When I arrived at the race, the rain had dwindled down to a sprinkle as I found the the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon tent. The ambassadors mingled before we made our way to the start line for a group photo. You could say we’re a fun group of people.
Then, people began to make their way to the start line, conveniently, as the ran was letting up. I should tell you this was my first short distance race in a long time. A long time, as in I hadn’t run a 5K in years.
Short races are a lot of fun. You can be competitive and really push yourself to run hard because you know that, in this case, at the 2 mile marker you’re halfway done, and it wasn’t just a warm up for the 24 more miles ahead of you.
As the gun went off, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I told myself just to run my own race. This would be a good baseline for the rest of the season.
I ended up taking off way too fast and slowed down every mile. I felt good, but knew I was nervous to see what my final pace would be. But, it’s funny how things work out. I ended up with a PR pace of an 8:57 minute mile.
After I finished the race and grabbed some water, I headed back over to the tent where we spent the next hour mingling with people and talking about the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon. It was morning well spent.
Running is just as much a mental activity as it is a physical one. You can PR even when you don’t feel like you’re running your best race. That’s what makes running so fun. If you just keep going, you can achieve great things.
To learn more about the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon, visit www.runcharlotte.com.
To learn more about the Run For Your Life Six Pack Race Series, visit www.runforyourlife.com.